Multiple compartment lantern slide holder



Patented Oct. 14, 1941 MULTIPLE GOMPABTBIENT LANTERN SLIDE HOLDER MillerB. Hutchison, In, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to Eastman Kodak Oompany,Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 26,1940, Serial No. 367,204

3 Claims. ((71. 88-26) This invention relates to photography and moreparticularly to holders for lantern slides which may be used in magiclanterns.

One object of my invention is to provide a holder in which a pluralityof lantern slides may be mounted in the proper relative position so thatthey may be passed through the magic lantern or projection machine oneafter the other by merely moving the slide carrier. Another object of myinvention is to provide a slide carrier which is relatively inexpensive,which can be readily loaded and unloaded and which, while light inweight, is still sufliciently rugged to be repeatedly used.

Coming now to the drawing, wherein like reference characters denote likeparts throughout:

Fig. 1 is a front plan view of a multiple compartment slide carrierconstructed in accordance with and embodying a preferred form of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a rear plan view of the lantern slide carrier shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 3, 4, and 6 are all fragmentary detail sections on a much enlargedscale taken on the section lines 3-3, 4-4, 55 and 5-6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is an, enlarged sectional view, part being broken away, on line1-1 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a typical lantern slide adapted to beplaced in my improved multiple compartment slide carrier.

There are at the present time many so-called miniature cameras on themarket which produce small size exposures. These exposures may be madeon the regular black and white film from which projection positives maybe made or reversal film may be used so that the originally exposed filmcan be used for lantern slide projection work. A large portion of thesesmall pictures are made on color film and there is a standard mount forthese small size pictures of approximately 2 x 2.inches with an openingor frame of approximately 1 x 1 inches. These dimensions are takenpurely by way of illustration, because these small slide pictures mayvary somewhat in outside dimension, but it is nevertheless customary tomount all of these small pictures in the 2" x 2" standard mounts.

My invention is particularly directed to a multiple compartment holderwhich will hold a plurality of such lantern slides, the holder to beused with the slides in place in projection and for storing thepictures. The holder must, therefore, be relatively inexpensive and itmust be made of extremely light-weight material so that the holderitself will pass through a machine designed to take the 2" x 2" slidesindividually.

As a preferred embodiment of my invention I have shown a multiplecompartment slide carrier of a size to take four standard 2" x 2"lantern slides. It is, of course, possible to alter the number oflantern slides that a holder will take without departing from myinvention, but I find that such a holder is extremely convenient in useand for storing th slides when not in use.

Referring to Fig. 1, I prefer to make the lantern slide carrier of asingle sheet of light-weight metal. This metal should be slightlyspringy and must be quite thin, because otherwise it would not passthrough a machine designed to take the lantern slides alone.

Referring to Fig. 8, a typical lantern slide L is shown as being mountedbetween two sheets of cardboard C', the picture P being framed by theedges F of a frame cut to suitable dimensions. The cardboard frame C maybe fastened together by a suitable adhesive H, so that the lantern slideL is in itself a unit which may be passed through a projector.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a holder which will take aplurality of the lantern slides L shown in Fig. 8. Such a holder, asindicated in Fig. 1, may consist of a frame plate I, preferably made ofthin, slightly springy metal, which may be, for instance, .005" thick.This metal, because of its thinness, may bend quite easily, but is.sufl'iciently springy to assume its normal position if slightlydistorted. The frame plate I is provided with a series of apertures oropenings 2 of slightly smaller dimensions than the outside dimensions ofthe slide L. Ribs 3 extend transversely between two longitudinal strips4 to divide the frame plate into the series of apertures 2. Each ofthese ribs is provided with embossings. The central embossing 5, asindicated in Fig. 3, is somewhat wider than the two side embossings 6,these embossings all serving to strengthen the rib 3 and the embossing 5tending to locate an edge of the lantern slide L being held in theframe.

The longitudinal edges 4 are provided with embossings I which may becontinuous or which may be broken into lengths, as indicated in Fig. 1.These embossings, asshown in Fig. '7, provide rounded rails on which oneside of a lantern slide L may rest and against which the lantern slide Lmay be pressed by a second set of parallel rails 8, these rails beingformed in a flange 9 bent from a second flange l0, this flange in turnbeing bent from the material of the lantern slide holder I.

Referring to Fig. 7, it will be noticed that the bend or fold IIIextends outwardly from the frame plate I and the fold 8 extends towardsthe opposite edge or fold in the metal of the base plate I. Bothlongitudinal edges I have the same type forming, so that there will betwo pairs of rails on which the lantern slides may slide intoposition-first, the rails formed by the embossings I on the metal baseplate and second,

the rails formed by the embossings or rounded.

edges 8 of the flanges I.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be noticed that in their position of restand when no slides have been placed in the holder, the distance t, whichis the inside length of the fold II, is preferably slightly greater thanthe thickness T of the lantern slide L. It should also be noticed thatthe distance t is considerably less than the thickness T of the lanternslide L. Thus, when the slide is entered between the rails 8 and I, thefold l springs outwardly due to the resiliency in the metal and tends tohold the lantern slide L in place between the two rails. At the sametime, since the contact between the two rails and the slide iscomparatively small, the slides can be freely slid into their properpositions beneath the apertures 2.

In order to reinforce the ends II of the frame to prevent these frombending too readily and in order to provide a type of latch whichfrictionally holds a series of lantern slides L in place, the extremeend walls ll of the base plate I are folded outwardly at I! anddownwardly and inwardly at It, as indicated in Fig. 6, the end of thewall It lying in an embossing II, which is of suflicient depth to permita slide to follow the inside wall I! of the base plate I in being slidfrom the holder or to the holder. As this movement takes place, theedges of a slide L are slid under the rounded and upwardly flared endsllof the overhanging flanges 9.

From Fig. 2, it will be noted that these flanges are cut off a materialdistance D from the extreme end ll of the holder so that there is aspace into which the ends may be inserted. The frame has to flex duringa loading or unloading operation, the reinforced end rails I I springingdownwardly due to the flexibility of the metal base plate across theareas I! which are not reinforced by the flanges 9 but which aresomewhat reinforced by the light metal flange II which extends upwardlyfrom the base plate I and which corresponds somewhat to the outward foldId of the flanges 9. The flexibility of the base plate at I9 and theflexibility of the flanges 9 permit the slides to be moved to and fromthe carrier by springing the ends down and the flanges 9 up. The lanternslides L may then be moved on the parallel sets of rails I and I andslid until there is one lantern slide L directly behind each of theapertures 2. The large embossings 5 tend to retain the slide in positionbehind each frame and since the length of the frame is a multiple of thelength of the lantern slide L, the frame can be fllled with the slides.The end slides are held in position by means of a curved flange II, asshown in Fig. 6, this flange resiliently engaging the edge of thelantern slide L.

As indicated in Fig. 6, the walls I2 and It, together with the baseplate I, form a triangular reinforcing arm across the extreme ends ofthe base plate I. These not only strengthen the slide carrier, but serveas snap latches or at least as a frictional latch for holding thelantern slides L in place.

It has been found that a holder loaded with four slides will securelyhold these slides in place so that they cannot he accidentally shakenout. At the same time, a firm movement of the slide toward the open endsof the rails 8 will cause the slide to engage the curved wall I3 cammingthis edge rearwardly and a portion of the rails 8 upwardly so that theslides can be withdrawn or, by reversing this movement, inserted withoutany dimculty.

From Fig. 8 and Fig. 1, it will be noticed that I have provided a pairof transverse embossings 2| about the center of each aperture 2. Thepurpou of these embossings. which are of a rounded shape, is tofrictionally engage a small portion of the lantern slides L, other thanthat portion engaged by the pairs of rails 1 and I, so that theseembossings also tend to hold the lantern slide L frictionally in theposition to which they are moved. While this construction has been founduseful, I have not found the transverse embossings 8 necessary and theymay be omitted, if desired.

With the construction described above, four lantern slides may bemounted in the carrier. If the pictures are horizontal, the lanternslide frames may be turned in the direction of the frame I of Fig. 1.If, however, the pictures are vertical, the frames may be turned in thedirection shown by II of Fig. 1. Since the pictures are reversed inprojecting, the images should be upside down when the slide is insertedin the projector. The slide may be moved one step at a time to projectone picture after another so that the holder may be manually pushed inand withdrawn from the usual type of projector.

If desired and if the projector is provided with a spring detent, theembossings 25 may also serve to center each picture in the projector,since it is a simple matter to slide the carrier until a spring latchcan be felt to engage an embossing 25. These embossingsare quite usefulfor projectors equipped with a spring detent, but if no such detent isemployed in the projector, it is still a simple matter to manuallyadjust the slide until the picture fllls the projection screen.

What I claim is: p

1. A lantern slide carrier comprising a thin springy sheet metal frameof greater length than breadth, a plurality of apertures in the frameplate having cross bars therebetween, folds along the top and bottom ofthe frame plate outwardly and toward each other forming lantern slidemount receiving grooves, the edge of the folds being bent toward theframe plate and forming parallel springy rails on which a lantern slidemount may slide, rounded formings on the frame plate opposite thebent-over rails on which the lantern slide mounts may slide, said railsalso stiffening the frame plate, formings extending across the width ofthe frame plate carried at the ends thereof, of a width substantiallyequal to the thickness of a lantern slide mount, and including a flangebent downwardly toward the frame plate, a rounded forming extendingparallel to the ends of the frame plate into which the ends of the endformings are folded, and strengthening ribs formed in the cross barsbetween the apertures in the frame plate to oppose transverse flexingthereof.

2. A lantern slide carrier comprising a thin. springy metal frame ofgreater length than breadth, a plurality of apertures in the frame platehaving cross bars therebetween, folds along the top and bottom of theframe plate outwardly and toward each other forming lantern slide mountreceiving grooves, that portion of each fold which is toward the otherfold being also formed toward the frame plate and rounded outwardly awayfrom the frame plate to form spaced round rails adapted to engage andpress a lantern slide mount against the frame plate, each fold along thetop and bottom of the frame plate being resilient due to the springymaterial of which it is made, the ends of each fold along the top andbottom of the frame plate being cut off a short distance from the end ofthe frame plate and having a. rounded and upwardly flared lip, a secondpair of parallel rails positioned on the frame plate under thefirst-mentioned rail and including rounded embossings extending towardthe first-mentioned rails, embossed rails being at least as short as thefirst-mentioned rails, flanges folded upwardly from and then downwardlytoward the base plate at both ends thereof to strengthen the endsthereof and to provide tapered slideways to facilitate entering slidesinto and removing them from the slide carrier, the clearance between theupper and lower parallel rails and the ends of the frame plate and theresilience of the rails formed on the longitudinal folds of the metalplate also facilitating movement of the slides in the slide carrier inloading and unloading the carrier.

3. A lantern slide carrier for relatively rigid lantern slidescomprising a thin, springy sheet metal plate having apertures therein,grooves along each longitudinal edge of the slide carrier comprisingfolds made in the metal plate, each fold being formed outwardly from theplate and inwardly toward each other, the last-named fold including arounded rail formed toward the metal plate, embossings on the platebeneath the folds also forming rails, both sets of rails forming aslideway' of less width than the thickness of a lantern slide, the railsall being of a length less than the length of the carrier andterminating at a point spaced from each end thereof, end formings on theslide carrier each consisting of an outward fold away from the metalplate and an inward fold against the base plate forming a reinforcementof triangular shape in cross section to strengthen the ends, whereby themetal plate and one set of rails are sufliciently resilient to pass arelatively rigid lantern slide into the grooves to slide on said pairsof rails in which position said triangular reinforced ends mayfrictionally hold said lantern slides in place.

MILLER R. HUTCHISON, JR.

